Russian Junior Test Skates, 10-19 August 2020, Novogorsk

[nussnacker]

It was a secret for the public, not for people around her. They were together doing ice show tours and people around her saw her rehearsing it, including Zagitova.

First time I’m hearing about this. Where are you getting the details that it was choreographed and she was practicing it?
The song itself was released on 29th of March for the record. It was a little over a month after the song release when Daniil announced Alina‘s EX.

 

[klena]

It was a secret for the public, not for people around her. They were together doing ice show tours and people around her saw her rehearsing it, including Zagitova.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

It’s completely possible that daria’s choreography was meant for a different program with different music, but when trusova’s program was announced they changed the music and kept the choreography. Think about it: the choreography doesn’t match the program.

 

[dunffvanstorn]

First time I’m hearing about this. Where are you getting the details that it was choreographed and she was practicing it?
The song itself was released on 29th of March for the record. It was a little over a month after the song release when Daniil announced Alina‘s EX.

I have some insiders that told me about it.

 

[nussnacker]

i have some insiders that told me about it.

o.k. XD

 

[yume]

And R&J was announced for Trusova not too long ago I doubt they could have created the program after she announced it and had it ready for test skates, unless people are wanting to say Eteri has a spy at Plushenko's camp or they switched music last minute after Trusova's was announced.

How about making it more interesting? Kostornaya knew what music each teammates would use this season, when she switched she told to Plushy. Team plushenko and team Tutberide will end with the same pieces. Just to show who can skate the best on a music......

If Gleikhengauz did it to annoy Plushy, he works fast.

 

[Tolstoj]

Thoughts on Junior Test Skates Boys SP & FS:

Artem Kovalev - He has improved the jumps, they look bigger now, the 4S in the free looked fully rotated, huge height on the 3A in the short, very interesting talent. The feeling i always have watching him is that he gets too excited, lose concentration and then ends up rushing and making mistakes. You notice it on some of the landings, but even in the free the fall on the flip and the mistake on the camel spin. Programs are okay, not amazingly inspired, but not even bad tho.

Matvei Vetlugin - beautiful skater, perfect for Ice Dance. Skating skills to die for, great speed, terrific expression. The rest he needs help: you can see he's trying, he fought for those quads in the free and the combos in the second half but the technique could be more efficient, too much space between the legs during the rotation, which often leads to underrotations (despite the height and speed are there) and falls. He did well enough here tho overall. Last year programs? I remember the SP for sure.

Evgeny Semenenko - Definitely a contender for junior worlds, the best talent that has come from Mishin's school in years. His technique is that good even from bad landings, he can still pull out a clean 3T, the camel spin looks improved (he had a really ugly one last season), still needs some work on speed and skating skills but he's one to watch for sure. Programs not particularly interesting.

Vsevolod Knyazev - Very young, no 3a yet, i think he maybe had a 4s planned in the free but looked like not even the 3 revolutions were there. He's trained like Sambo70 girls and you can tell: same great speed, fast spins (though not as centered), same transitions for the sake of adding transitions, skating skills tho are not good here, needs some serious work on those edges and twizzles.

Maksim Belyavsky - Maybe it's first time i see him, interesting jumping technique some jumps were really off tho (it seems due to physical conditions) but you can see the potential on that front: nice 3A good height and distance both in the short and the long, he needs to work on the spins tho, he looked really tired by the end of that free skate.

Kirill Sarnovsky - Shades of Plushenko in some of the moves, good effort his 3A in the free, nice spins too, some of the last jumps looked under (the last 3flip for sure), decent musicality also.

Andrei Kutovoi - Still my personal favourite. Best posture, best skating skills, best landing position, great musicality and performance qualities too, i like the new short, i don't mind keeping the long cause it was a good program. However the triple axel still needs work, he needs more speed going in. I believe he could be the best here, but they need to work or they'll let someone else to grab those spots.

Mark Kondratiuk - Good physical conditions, huge improvements from last season. Still looks a bit messy sometimes (that 3lo in the short looked overrotated), very ambitious technical contents in the free skate with 3 quads, one in the second half. Short better than the long.

Now a pause then i'll watch the girls.

 

[dhjh811]

How about making it more interesting? Kostornaya knew what music each teammates would use this season, when she switched she told to Plushy. Team plushenko and team Tutberide will end with the same pieces. Just to show who can skate the best on a music......

If Gleikhengauz did it to annoy Plushy, he works fast.

what kind of reach is this...

dragging Kostornaia into this nonsense

 

[yume]

what kind of reach is this...

dragging Kostornaia into this nonsense

I like that you say that it's a nonsense. It's clearly one and i think some people need an entertainment.

Now musics (warhorses) are stolen, lol.

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

I like that you say that it's a nonsense. It's clearly one and i think some people need an entertainment.

Now musics (warhorses) are stolen, lol.

Choosing the same song, especially if it's a warhorse isn't that odd, but the exact same pieces? There are a lot of pieces that can be used in R&J, you can use the Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, the old movie, the Leonardo DiCaprio movie or the recent movie. Five whole soundtracks and somehow... the exact same pieces were chosen? It could totally be a coincidence, but I totally understand why most people think it isn't.

 

[flanker]

Choosing the same song, especially if it's a warhorse isn't that odd, but the exact same pieces? There are a lot of pieces that can be used in R&J, you can use the Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, the old movie, the Leonardo DiCaprio movie or the recent movie. Five whole soundtracks and somehow... the exact same pieces were chosen? It could totally be a coincidence, but I totally understand why most people think it isn't.

You can cross out DiCaprio, Danny G used that two years ago, so that's narrowing the variants

For me it's perfectly possible the work on the program goes back to the time when Rozanov was still with TT (programs are not created only when the previous season ends), maybe even common idea originally, so they now compete who will do it better.

 

[yume]

Choosing the same song, especially if it's a warhorse isn't that odd, but the exact same pieces? There are a lot of pieces that can be used in R&J, you can use the Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, the old movie, the Leonardo DiCaprio movie or the recent movie. Five whole soundtracks and somehow... the exact same pieces were chosen? It could totally be a coincidence, but I totally understand why most people think it isn't.

Hmmm yes, i guess it's weird. If he had chosen the same pieces than for Kostornaya people would have said that he's recycling. So he chose to copy Plushy.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Thoughts on Junior Test Skates Boys SP & FS:

Agree with your observations :thumbsup:

Vetlugin kept last year's SP and added a new LP here. I'm happy with keeping the SP a second year as it's elegant and scores well on PCS. Not sure about the LP, although he seems to be 'having a good time' with it. A more mature programme might showcase his skills better, but then again maybe he is just intrinsically cheery/upbeat (2018-20 LP was the Greatest Showman) and two serious programmes would be too much for him

Do you know Aleksandr Selevko (Estonian)? Another nice skater with jump problems, who went from 27th at Jr Worlds (URing/popping triples) in 2018 to 9th in 2020 (quads and 3A). No coach change or any big physical changes, but you could see his air position tightened between age 16-18. I want to believe that such improvement can be possible for Vetlugin too, who will be 17 soon. He's already improved quite a bit from two years ago - but he has to get a move on before some new wunderkind emerges (or Kutovoi gets a stable 3A/quad ). Hopefully within this year, before he ages out of juniors and has to face Danielian etc. again.

Vetlugin fangirling aside... 3/8 boys doing Queen (and one pair team)?! I hope Yablokov has changed his LP this year, or we'll have two Notre Dames as well (and Semenenko's is even messier). Belyavsky's music cutter wins this round for me.

Kondratiuk's taste in music is very Marmite-ish, but he makes a good effort at interpreting it. At the moment, he looks to have the highest scoring potential. We'll see if it holds when the other guys have had more training time.

 

[Tolstoj]

Elizaveta Osokina - I like her entrance into the 3ltz, it's unusual, nice short program, well choreographed. Spins are not that good, the flying camel is quite poor really (not great variations and slow), much better the combination spins in terms of speed and positioning but the variations while original they are a bit ugly. She skated well here, good improvements from last season.

Maiia Khromykh - the SP is very similar to Gubanova's last season short (same music and similar choreo) but without that maturity, the piece does feel less special given to a junior. Great use of the arms in the short though. Nice ina bauer into the 3ltz but the ina bauer is not choreographed with the music at all. The 3flip-3t in the short has a very basic entrance compared to the others we've seen here. The long instead feels a bit rushed in everything: choreo not very clear, music half Red Violin half Schnittke, just like last season she looks more tense in the long, as if she could bomb at any point, She kinda reminds me of Pogorilaya a bit on that. Good attempt on the quad sal, despite the fall.

Anna Frolova - Last year's SP but difficult entry into the 3f-3t, we'll see if she gets consistent with that. Good balletic posture, she looks composed on the ice. I like her new free, tribute to Ezio Bosso which has just passed away 3 months ago.

Sofia Samodelkina - She was by far the best here. 3a looked good in both programs, she skated clean, spins also were quite good compared to the others in terms of speed and centering. But it's not just the technical elements, unlike the others she listens to the music, she is involved in the performance, she can emote a bit it's not just stone face all the time, and her skating skills are good.

Daria Usacheva - I like her short program, it suits her style, the free not particularly memorable R&J. Good technique on the axel, while the flip was really wonky here both in the short and the long on all 3 attempts. First half of both programs is quite nice and she skates big, the second half a bit tentative. Great spins as always (except the biellmann in the short), still a lovely skater to watch but a bunch of things to work on.

Sofia Muravieva - The surprise of the short for me, she skated that program well, very aggressive and good expression as well. The free instead was a mess, the steps sequence felt very rushed because of the falls and she was behind the music.

 

[Vlad Karigov]

How about making it more interesting? Kostornaya knew what music each teammates would use this season, when she switched she told to Plushy. Team plushenko and team Tutberide will end with the same pieces. Just to show who can skate the best on a music......

If Gleikhengauz did it to annoy Plushy, he works fast.

Coming from the skater who chooses who to skate with on the rink and the publicist i wouldn't be surprised if it was true. If he has already appropriated skaters and are selling them as your product, someone doubts he wouldn't do the same with competing shows...

 

[Tolstoj]

Agree with your observations :thumbsup:

Vetlugin kept last year's SP and added a new LP here. I'm happy with keeping the SP a second year as it's elegant and scores well on PCS. Not sure about the LP, although he seems to be 'having a good time' with it. A more mature programme might showcase his skills better, but then again maybe he is just intrinsically cheery/upbeat (2018-20 LP was the Greatest Showman) and two serious programmes would be too much for him

Do you know Aleksandr Selevko (Estonian)? Another nice skater with jump problems, who went from 27th at Jr Worlds (URing/popping triples) in 2018 to 9th in 2020 (quads and 3A). No coach change or any big physical changes, but you could see his air position tightened between age 16-18. I want to believe that such improvement can be possible for Vetlugin too, who will be 17 soon. He's already improved quite a bit from two years ago - but he has to get a move on before some new wunderkind emerges (or Kutovoi gets a stable 3A/quad ). Hopefully within this year, before he ages out of juniors and has to face Danielian etc. again.

Vetlugin fangirling aside... 3/8 boys doing Queen (and one pair team)?! I hope Yablokov has changed his LP this year, or we'll have two Notre Dames as well (and Semenenko's is even messier). Belyavsky's music cutter wins this round for me.

Kondratiuk's taste in music is very Marmite-ish, but he makes a good effort at interpreting it. At the moment, he looks to have the highest scoring potential. We'll see if it holds when the other guys have had more training time.

Yeah i remember Selevko (liked his SP last season), i wouldn't say he completely fixed his technique yet but it looks better now for sure.

I really hope Vetlugin can get his jumps consistent, cause his skating is really gorgeous, he deserves very high components, he just needs to put out more clean skates. I appreciate that he's going for these jumps, with speed and height, it's just the rotation.

 

[ali0125]

It’s completely possible that daria’s choreography was meant for a different program with different music, but when trusova’s program was announced they changed the music and kept the choreography. Think about it: the choreography doesn’t match the program.

Very likely. Junior test skates give me a feeling that Danny G did a mashup of his last season programs then cut and paste to whatever pieces of music - he doesn't care

 

[readernick]

It’s completely possible that daria’s choreography was meant for a different program with different music, but when trusova’s program was announced they changed the music and kept the choreography. Think about it: the choreography doesn’t match the program.

I mean how often does the choreography match the music with this choreographer? So, while I agree the choreo is completely unrelated to the music, that in itself not great evidence to support the purposeful copying theory. R&J songs are warhorses, it could just be coincidence. After all three of the young men are skating to Queen.

 

[Ifwe]

Coming from the skater who chooses who to skate with on the rink and the publicist i wouldn't be surprised if it was true. If he has already appropriated skaters and are selling them as your product, someone doubts he wouldn't do the same with competing shows...

you really believe that aliona did a list of skaters she doesn’t want to skate with?? i have to laugh lmaoo

 

[lariko]

Did Bohemian Rhapsody go on sale in Russia? Belyavskiy looked more interesting after that because of the different choice of music. :agree:

I am going to join the chorus here to wish Vetlugin and Kutovoy the season of gaining jump mastery.

I also enjoyed Sarnovskiy’s free more than his short.

And in the ladies group, i am still on the same page as yesterday. Samodelkina, Osokina, Frolova, with Samodelkina really capturing the my heart in the free ��